Lifestyle and Life-Hacks of Gregory Gopman

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Summer is amazing don’t get me wrong, but sometimes with the heat and elsewhere in daily life there can be improvements. I love to figure out new and exciting ways to accomplish daily tasks better, most efficiently, and with much less effort. The list you’ll see below will give you a definitive guide to helping better your summer and life as a whole. Enjoy and feel free to share.

Freshening Up:

If you tend to travel a lot like I do, you’ll most likely feel a little gross after a long flight or car ride or whatever transportation you decide to use. What I found to work really well is a simple trick involving lemon and sugar. If you’re on a flight and feeling like you need to clean up a little, ask the flight attendant for a lemon and some sugar. Combining these two will give you a makeshift face scrub and you’ll be awake and perky in no-time.

Summer Feet:

No one likes smelly feet, and I mean no one. When the summer heat waves hit there is no doubt you’ll sweat more than in the wintery month but that shouldn’t mean you have to smell worse. If you notice that your shoes begin to smell more than normal there is a homemade solution just for you. Take a fresh teabag from your pantry and place it in your favorite kicks overnight to deodorize them and wake up with fresh smelling sneakers.

Stay Hydrated the Cool Way:

Summer is hot and with that comes drinking lots of water. Staying hydrated is extremely important but no one wants to drink warm water when they’re out and about. Instead of drinking warm water, freeze half a water bottle full of water and then fill the rest with cold water. The massive ice cube at the bottom of your bottle will keep your water colder for much longer than a few ice cubes will. Drink up and stay hydrated!

Barbecue Care:

With the sun out, the barbecues come with it. Barbecues are some of the most fun parties to attend any time of year but there’s not many better ways to ruin fresh meat than with an unclean grill. I recommend laying down a small bed of lemon slices to not only avoid the meat from sticking to your grill and causing a mess, but also adding a little citrus flavor.

At Home Iced Coffee:

It is definitely iced coffee season as the temperatures continue to soar. You could either go to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts and spend $2-$7 on an iced coffee or you could make your own delicious brew at home. Simply by making a pot of fresh coffee and allowing it to cool down will give you great tasting iced coffee. Be sure to add some of the coffee into your ice cube tray to freeze and later add to your cup of cold coffee. This will ensure you don’t lose any flavor when the ice melts.

Happy Summer!

Gregory Gopman

Computer coding has become a big topic of discussion in recent years. People are starting to experiment more and create wonderful new products, designs, and more. But what is the next step? Where will the torch be passed to next? The answer is, the children. The children of today are starting to become interested in coding by way of new applications found on their homes iPad or through lessons at their school. Today’s children will grow up with a better understanding of coding and the will be able to flex and shatter the boundaries that are currently in place for developers, coders, programmers and more.

Parents are joining the effort to encourage their children to become interested in coding and the possibilities of the booming industry. Children are being enrolled in special programs and school that have the technology and resources to teach children how to code and program. In today’s society of new apps, websites, programs, software, and more its extremely smart to get an early lead on such an interesting topic and have a leg up on competition when it comes to finding a job. Knowing how to code starting from the age of 7 will definitely raise eyebrows for future employers.

Coding offers so much that most people may not realize. Coding will teach users critical decision making, cause and effect, and provide young people with a real sense of entitlement and power. Knowing how to do something really well and being in a small pool of competition is pretty empowering. There is a fair intense learning curve when it comes to learning how to code so children will be forced to look back into their work and see where they may have gone wrong and fix the problem by themselves. Children can weigh different options and make informed decisions on the best possible outcome as it relates to the data available.

Coding can be introduced extremely early on in children’s lives and is said to be accurately presented as early as a child’s preschool years. At its very core coding is similar to reading, writing, and math in terms of the symbols used and the communication presented. Therefore when a child learns to read and write and understand the basic principals of each, they are most likely ready to be introduced into the wonderful world of coding.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to coding and the future looks ever brighter each day knowing that children as young a preschool age are developing and honing their coding skills. Children’s minds are like sponges, they are thirsty for more, it’s our jobs to provide them with what they need and quench their passions.

I love to go camping and get back into nature whenever I can. I’m no stranger to sleeping in the great outdoors but I try do it as comfortable as possible without bringing along a camper and a real bed. Over the past few years I have compiled a list of hacks to better the natural experience of sleeping under the stars and exploring the landscape around us.

10. Sage Repels Mosquitos:

Sage is a natural mosquito repellent and a definite must when you go camping in areas of high mosquito population. Use the sage in your campfire and the smell will ward off the bugs like you wouldn’t believe.

9. Removing Ticks:

If you have a tick on your body and it has latched on, try not to panic. If you have liquid soap and cotton balls, you are very much in luck. Soak the cotton ball in the soap and place over the tick. Soon the tick will stop chewing and will fall off with the cotton ball. If you believe the tick to have been on your body for a while place it in a container for later and test it for lyme disease.

8. Acorn Whistle:

Theres not much worse than going exploring while camping and getting lost. If you do get lost and yelling doesn’t cut it anymore to signal for help, find an acorn. Acorns are one of natures natural whistles. Feel free to use it to your aid and signal other campers that you need assistance.

7. Duct Tape Your Water Bottle:

You never know when you might need some duct tape. Wrap some duct tape around your water bottle in case of emergency and use it when needed. This can be really valuable if you need a tough and durable adhesive on the spot.

6. Solar Jars:

This camping-hack can be really helpful for those dark nights under the stars. You can make natural lamps out of glass jars with solar disks on top. This is a great way to light up your camp ground without lighting fires.

5. Pack Breakfast Right:

Have you ever wondered what the best way to transport eggs while hiking? I certainly have and came up with a method that won’t have broken shells and yellow yolk all over your backpack. Pre-crack your eggs and place them in a water bottle for a durable storage unit while camping. One normal sized water bottle will carry 8 eggs.

4. Bring Sandpaper:

Bring a strip of sandpaper with you to help light matches. You never know when your trusty lighter or old matchbox might fail you. Its better to be over-prepared I guess. For a better result, empty your matched into a sturdy tupperware container and glue the sandpaper to the inside of the container.

3. Ant Hate Grits:

Surprisingly enough ants are not fans of grits. Do yourself a favor and pack a fair amount of grits with your other camping equipment. When you decide on a spot to lay your head at night, sprinkle some grits around you or directly where you see the bugs. You’ll be happy to not wake up with bites all over.

2. Deodorant Helps Itches:

Using your deodorant can help soothe your itches. Whether you got bit by a mosquito or walked into poison ivy, your Old Spice deodorant can alleviate your itches and skin sores if applied to the spot.

1. Store Ingredients in Tic-Tac Boxes:

If you have any spices or small ingredients that you plan to use for cooking or anything else, I would suggest packaging them in Tic-Tac boxes. The little containers are durable and the proper size while offering the ability to sift the spices or ingredients accurately.

I hope these camping hacks helped you out and you have a really memorable and safe camping trip. Please be sure to check back again soon for more life-hacks on various topics. Thanks again!

I understand how the winter can get you down with all the snowfall, dark mornings, early evenings, and cold winds, but there are ways to combat sickness and mood. It is really easy to fall into same routine day in and day out, but some small variations could make the biggest difference. Over the years I have found a few ways to keep me alert, healthy, and in good spirits overall, even in the midst of a blizzard. Below you will find my top lifehacks to improve body and mind through the ongoing winter lull.

1. Warm Water With Lemon

Drinking warm water with slice of lemon is shown to calm the nerves and soothe the soul. Its inexpensive and easy to put together, so theres no problem on that front. All you need is warm water, a mug, and as many washed slices of lemon as you desire. This quick remedy is sure to keep you warm on the coldest days.

2. Take a Break

Taking a break from work is proven to increase focus and efficiency over the long run of any given task. Without a break the mind reaches a pinnacle for its ability to work and after the pinnacle is reached, inefficiency is achieved. This is the last thing you want. Spoil yourself with a 15 minute walk around the office, a healthy session of stretching, or grabbing a nutritional snack from the cafeteria. Take a break, but skip the KITKAT.

3. Eat Fruits & Veggies

Winter is not the season to skimp on eating fruits and vegetables. In fact it may be the most important month to do so. Fruits and vegetables as everyone knows are loaded in vitamins, minerals, and body fortifying nutrients. Its easy to reach for a slice of pizza but a leafy green salad is jam packed with everything you need to lower cholesterol, boost your immunity, prevent cancers, and promote overall health and well-being. If you do choose the healthy option of a salad, make sure you don’t douse it with dressing. Unfortunately dressing and sauces aren’t exactly healthy and can be a detriment to your new found health kick.

I know the winter is a tough season, but believe it or not you’re tougher. Use these small lifehacks to better yourself and you’re sure to be happier and ready to tackle any day in front of you. Feel free to submit your own lifehacks using the contact for on the Contact page of this website.

Even though its cold remaining active is crucial. Whether you are just walking around your home or going out for a run in the snow, keeping you heart rate up and your body moving will help you get through the long days. I know it might be easy to curl up on the couch with a blanket but you’ll be much happier and healthier by staying active. so break out those running shoes or skis and the long-johns and get out there!

Driving Safe

The winter is the hardest season on cars due to all the salt on the road and cold climate. It can be quite taxing on you car if you are not fully prepared. Some helpful advice I have heard and would like to share would be to fill all fluids (windshield, oil, transmission, etc), replace or check your windshield wipers, and change over your regular tires to the snow tires. Some other helpful advice would be to use your floormats incase you are stuck in the snow to gain traction, keep a flashlight in your glove box, and try to park your car facing east to use the sun as a natural defroster.

Using Your Thermostat Without Breaking The Bank

Heat can be costly. However this does not need to cost you an arm and a leg in the winter. By purchasing a smart thermostat you can program your house to be the right temperature and maintain that temperature in a more cost effective way. Also, be sure to make certain your home is not leaking heat through cracks in the windows, walls, or doors.

Take Care Of Your Body

Winter can be very harsh on one’s body. Skin can dry and crack along with lips and other annoying spots. Make sure you use moisturizer, Chapstick or lip balm, and cover up so that the wind doesn’t hurt too bad.

Prepare For The Worst

In case there is that storm of the century it never hurts to prepare for the storms. Make sure you are stocked up on water, canned goods, as well as charged electronics. Assemble an emergency kit in case of well…an emergency. Before you know it the snow will be gone but for the rare storms, its always a good idea to be overly prepared.

Take An Off-Season Getaway

Most people have used their vacation days during the holidays so this might be the perfect time to travel somewhere warm. I recently wrote an article on the top place to travel during the spring and you can view it here! The flights and hotels will be much cheaper and you’ll most likely avoid the crowds. Take that vacation you know you deserve.

Stay Healthy

Winter is the number one time of the year for sicknesses. These can affect your work day or your weekend, or both! Whether its the common cold or the flu you can combat potential illnesses simply by washing your hands, using hand sanitizers, staying active (see #1), sleeping enough, and staying warm.

Hope these tips helped and you feel more prepared. Make a list and start crossing off the preparations you have done. Stay warm and check back soon for more updates!

The holidays can be a hectic time for people! People are either decorating their house, out shopping for the perfect gift, or solidifying festive plans with their friends and families. The last thing anyone wants is to be stressed out and not enjoying the holly jolly spirit. Over my many holiday seasons I have learned a few key things that I would like to share with all of you so that everything runs smoothly. Feel free to comment and share as I would love to hear more holiday hacks. Enjoy!

Limit Your Commitments: This is the time of year to relax and not overdo your plans. It is important to keep a schedule so you don’t overbook your time. People will be asking you to attend this party and that party, so be sure to get everything prioritized and prepped.

Avoid Traveling Stress: As many of you might have seen before, I previously posted an article on traveling hacks and how to fly with the most comfort and how to make your time in the airport the most enjoyable. Some extra tips involve always arriving hours before your flight (or other mode of transportation) as well as being packed at least a day in advance to avoid the realization that you forgot your favorite shirt at home when its too late.

Continue to Get Great Gift Deals: So Black Friday was too insane to shop on, don’t worry! The deals are still out there! Shopping online using websites like Slickdeals or Woot are sure to give you the savings that you crave. You may also even be lucky enough to get more savings when using retailmenot.com. Happy Shopping!

If You Don’t Know, Don’t Worry: Some people can be really tricky to buy for. Do they want this? Do they want that? Don’t spend too much time thinking about a small gift when you could always get them a gift card so they can figure it out.

Ship Flat-rate: The United States Postal Service slogan of “If it fits, it ships for one low price,” gives everyone the perfect excuse to load up that box of goodies with as much as it can handle. The USPS service will allow you to pack the box with up to 70lbs and will ship it anywhere in the United States.

Make Your House Smell Amazing: This one is simple and sure to make an impression on your guests should you decide to entertain at your residence. Gather some small pine branches and feel free to add in cinnamon sticks and even oranges or cherries and place them in pot. Place the pot on the stove-top and place the setting on simmer. Soon enough your home will be smelling like the winter wonderland that you wish for.

Make Money: Sometimes you get pretty bad presents. Its just a fact of the holidays. You could always return the gifts and get something better, or you could sell it for cold hard cash. You can sell the dud yourself or let Amazon do it for you by using Fulfillment by Amazon.

Save time and energy and put your potatoes in the dishwasher with the rinse option on. Just remember not to add soap.

Make Your Turkey Tender

What’s better than a juicy turkey that falls right apart? Not too much in my opinion. You have two options here, you can either slow roast the big turkey the night before or use a crockpot to maintain all the flavors and ensure that the turkey is tender everywhere and everyone is happy.

Use a Wine Glass to Perfectly Cut Biscuits

Before you uncork your favorite bottle of red, use those wine glasses to shape the perfect biscuits from your famous homemade dough.

Chill Your Beer or Wine Fast

If you’ve ever bought room temperature beer or wine and you want to cool it down, you know that it is not a quick process…until now! The secret to this age old problem is as easy as using paper towels. Take your beverage of choice, still fully sealed, and wrap it in a paper towel. After the bottle is wrapped, wet the towel and place in your freezer. After about 20 minutes your bottle should be nice and chilly. Size of bottle may vary time in freezer.

Veggie Candles

This is the perfect opportunity to impress guests with your creative skills. Go to the store and buy a few gourds and some tea lights. When you get home and hollow out the top and place tea lights in the top of the gourds. Light the candles right before guests arrive and watch their jaws drop.

Don’t Waste Your Time Peeling Potatoes

Heres a simple trick to help you peel your potatoes a lot faster and without making a mess. boil your potatoes in water until they have been boiled through. Have a bowl of ice water ready. Upon completion of boiling, place potatoes in the bowl and allow them to cool for 10-15 second or until able to handle. Remove potatoes from their ice bath and take off the peel as though you were ringing out the water on a towel.

Use Utensils to Make Amazing Pie Crusts

Don’t serve anyone a boring pie. That is one of the biggest rule of Thanksgiving in my book. One of my favorite Thanksgiving hacks is to use everyday utensils to make decorative pie crusts. Use your forks or spoons or whatever you can find to make a one-of-a-kind pie crust that will impress all your guests.

I travel a lot, it’s just what I do. I’m always surprised when people tell me it’s too expensive to travel — it’s just not. Especially with all the resources at your disposal these days. Here’s my top tips for going anywhere in the world you want for cheap.

Use the Best Flight Booking Tools

I’m always amazed when people go to an airline site to book travel or even Travelocity. If you are traveling in the USA you need to be booking travel through Kayak.com, SkyScanner.com, or Hipmunk.com. Or in Asia Agoda.com. Anyone of these sites will give you the best prices on the market and the most options available, where as other web portals only show you a fraction of them. The key to booking cheap flights is booking on the right site and applying the right filters. My favorite is Kayak.com, because it easily allows me to input the 2 best search features — Searching airports nearby and flexibility on my dates by 1-3 days before/after. The difference between a $100 flight and a $450 flight is often as simple as choosing an airport that is 30 minutes away.

Airport Transportation + Hotels

Always remember that there is a cost of getting to and from the airport. Your cheapest option to get there is usually public transit. The next best option is “Super Shuttle” if they pick up at your location. You can normally find them outside the airport leaving every 15-20 minutes. After that, Uber is incredibly affordable and around 30 minutes faster than Super Shuttle at getting you from point A to point B. Your final option should be taking a taxi or renting a car. Car rentals only make sense if you need it for traveling around the city you’re in, but most of the time Uber will have you covered.

Then there’s booking a cheap hotel. Again, using sites like Kayak.com or hotels.com are the way to go for this. You will never find a cheaper rate than an online rate. My personal favorite is booking 5-star hotels on Kayak for 50% off, though you don’t know what you’ll get.

And if you really want to book a hotel for cheap, Couchsurfing.com is free and hostels are only $10-$25 a night anywhere around the world.

Get an Airline Credit Card

Airline credit cards will save you $1,000’s a year if you use them right. The key is to know when to use Airline points and when to purchase with cash. For example, last week I booked a last minute trip to see Tony Robbins in Dallas. The cheapest last minute ticket I could find was $450 each way, or $900 round trip. However it only cost me 20,000 airline points to book through American. That’s $500 saved right there!

The trick of knowing when to use your airline points is knowing their cash equivalent, which I believe is $0.02 per point. I get that value because I can use my cash-back credit card to get $.02 for every dollar I spend or I can get 1 AA point for every dollar I spend on my AA card.

Don’t Buy Seat Upgrades Unless you Have to

If I’m flying 5hrs or more than I’ll consider shelling out extra for seat upgrades. Otherwise, the best thing to do is to talk to the gate keeper before you board to see what seat upgrades are available. Most of the time you can just take the upgraded seat without paying for it if you remember where it is! You can ask the gate keeper what the available seats are, i.e. seat 11A and then simply board and sit in it.

Avoid Rush Hour

This is a preventative measure to making sure you don’t get stuck in traffic. The worst travel cost is having to re-book a flight last minute because you were late, and the easiest way to avoid this is to not travel during rush hour. That means avoid flights taking off between 9:00-11:00AM or 5:00-7:00pm

A small follow onto this is not landing at those times either. It’s never fun to be stuck in traffic and time is money!

As you may know by some of my previous blogs, I travel a lot and thus spend a lot of time in airports. Over my years spent in airports I have come up with the following ways to make the usually less than enjoyable time bearable or even fun. Here’s my 5 favorite hacks for enjoying time in the airport

1) Live The Highlife in an Airport Lounge

First off I’m a big fan of spending time in the airline clubs. They have fast wifi, free food and drinks, and really comfortable seating options. It’s also pretty quiet and a good place to de-stress. Most clubs will let you in for a $50 fee, but there a few hacks you can use to get in for free. Some Airline credit cards and the AMEX Platinum will gain you access, as will a first class ticket. My favorite hack overall is using preferred airline status with ONE to get into their lounges. If you read my previous post on getting Elite status through an American Airlines Challenge then you’ll enjoy knowing that other airlines will match whatever status you win and those other airlines will also let you in their clubs for free!

2) Rest Up

Whether in the club area of in front of your gate, it’s always nice to catch some shut eye. The caveat to doing this right is notifying a worker near-by of your upcoming flight in case you rest too long. As a backup mechanism I also like to set an alarm on my phone. You might stress out about not waking up, but I’ve never had a problem with these two notification systems.

3) Download Entertainment

Whether on your phone or on your computer, you should have multiple options to download loads of entertainment before your flight. I recently flew to San Diego and I used the time to download an educational PDF of Paul Grahm’s blog posts on my Mac Air laptop.

4) Charge up Those Devices

I like to have all of my devices charged when I travel. Especially internationally. You sometimes just don’t know when your next power up is gonna be. That means plugging in your laptop, your portable phone charger, your phone, and whatever else you have long before you leave for the airport to assure the 100% battery life. I normally find an outlet at the airport (you can always find one if you look hard enough) and establish my personal real estate area while downloading/watching movies or doing personal work on my laptop. Depending on how involved you get, you might want to set a calendar reminder or alarm to remind yourself of your upcoming flight.

5) Networking/Massages/Food

Networking in the airport can allow you to gain new contacts, learn about someone else, and pass the time in a productive manner. Personally I’m also not the biggest fan of pre-flight massages but, if you’re going to get a massage you’re probably better off after your flight when you need it more and it’s half the price.

I have three rules with airport food — 1) It’s generally going to be better than anything you can get on a plane. 2) If you can, hold out on eating until you reach your final destination. 3) If you’re dying of hunger, go with things that look fresh, stay away from all forms of fish/sushi, and if possible avoid fast food at all costs (as you normally should).